At sea.

 We left Tenerife last night and spent the day at sea.

And boy wasn't the Atlantic Ocean in a bad mood!

And like most European food, the MSC's food has been quite bad so far.

So with rough seas and greasy food, no wonder some of our party had a terrible day.

I am getting ahead of myself though, for they never got sick immediately after breakfast. For Sonja and I had a very good half hour yoga session led by our personal yoga guru/fitness trainer Michelle, followed by strength training at the gym.

(Pics contributed by Sonja).

I never knew how weak my upper body was until our personal trainer showed me how to use the machine to build up those muscles!

I am determined that I will be able to do pushups by the end of this cruise.

It was after those fitness sessions that two of our party got really sick.

It was extremely cold so I couldn't even go into the hot tub for I swear I would freeze to death once I came out and the cold breeze took its toll!😡

So today, those who weren't seasick just hung around, not eating too much though as the food is really bad.

There was a short show in the theater in the night.

 It was promoted as celebrating European culture through song and dance. However it did not get a really rousing applause until three African male gymnasts came on stage and stole the show, so to speak. 

Tomorrow will be better as that's when we land in Morocco.

More anon.

Last lick

We have now left the motherland and are on our way to Florida.

After flying 8 hours from Lusaka to Dubai, we had a long layover and took a tour to Lahbab Desert which is an hour and a half away.

And guess what? Met another Jamaican who had gone to Bali and Philippines and was also hanging out in Dubai during the long layover before heading to Miami.She is going back to Jamaica on Wednesday. 

So wonderful to see Jamaican young people traveling the world!❤️ She went on another tour but we headed to the desert.

There we got to ride the camels and frolic over high a treacherous sand dunes with an expert driver in an SUV.

Flying through the dunes felt at times like being in a roller coaster ride and others, like being on rough seas in a small power boat.

It was a lot of fun though.

On our return to Dubai we asked the young man to drop us at the famous Dubai Mall, a man-made beauty.

It’s really magnificent (and expensive!) and shows to some extent, what you can do when you have unlimited petro-dollars!

Now all I have is memories of the wonderful adventure we experienced over the past few weeks.

They will last me a lifetime 😊.

Picture Gallery 

 

Dubai international airport is the most humongous airport I have ever seen in my life! 

We took Uber from downtown and told the driver we were going on Emirates airline. Clearly he didn’t know about the airport either, but he can be forgiven as he told us he had only been in Dubai for six months. 

He is actually from nearby Indian Kashmir and incidentally, Dubai seems to have a huge number of Indians and Pakistanis working there.

Anyway he dropped us off at international departure only for us to discover that we had to take the Metro to get to Emirates’ gate!That’s how huge the place is and busy and expensive too.

But all’s well that went well and we had the experience of a lifetime every day everywhere.😊

David versus Goliath?

David versus Goliath was the first thought that entered my mind as we drove into the parking lot by  Café Cita on the beach in Hallandale Beach. 

 For there it was dwarfed by those monstrous high rises!

La Cita (blue building in center) dwarfed by high rises

I have never been to this place before or even to Hallandale Beach, but when our new friend Rosa from Guatemala who we had met on a recent camping trip, suggested we get together, Sonja picked this spot. 

Campers and friends

And it was perfect. 

Here was this little café on the beach, surrounded by huge high-rise apartments.

I have seen many sob movies about little establishments rejecting offers to be bought out by huge corporations who want to swallow them up in the interest of development. 

Some even use dirty tricks in these movies. 

That’s my David versus Goliath scenario!

I have no idea if it is so in this case, but that was the first thought that crossed my mind.

It’s a nice little place. Not elaborate dining but it has everything you could want if you are going to the nearby beach.

And what we ordered, tasted good.

The South City Beach Park establishment led by Mayor Joy Cooper and her deputies, could do the public a favor by organizing proper and regular cleaning of the restroom next door however. 

They have been quick to put up their plaque promoting their existence, but wouldn’t it be better if they concentrated on organizing to keep the public facility in good condition, wouldn’t you say?

For it is right beside this nice little 'food place 😡

But back to la Cita.

The service is a bit slow but it is understandable as only one gentleman was inside doing everything.

He also expanded my knowledge in a big way.

It was Sonja who asked him why the palm trees had metal strips around the trunk, and the explanation was most welcome.

For he told us that it was to keep the iguanas out of the trees!

I celebrate anyone who will keep iguanas at bay.

For, if it is one thing I hate, it is lizards.

 Big lizards, little lizards, all lizards.

 They make my skin crawl. Yuk.

Can you also imagine if he hadn’t put that metal around the trunk of the tree and an iguana had climbed up and fallen out of the tree near us! 

Or worse, if its feces had fallen out the and landed on our table! 

That would for me, have been a fate worse than death. 

So, I was happy the operator of Cafe Cita saved us from that possibility. 

I did find the little curled up tail lizards hanging around for food, a bit too friendly for my liking. 

And they wouldn’t move when I tried to shoo them away.😡

In front of the café is the beach and its ok as Florida beaches go.

Cold and rough.

You probably don’t know my bias, but coming from Jamaica, my standards are super-high when it comes to beaches.

So, I am not too impressed with Florida’s beaches and have only ever entered one!

But Cafe Cita by Hallandale Beach is a nice place to hang out with friends.

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